The Car Confrontation
by Mabel Lane
Summary: Daria is a secret lesbian, harboring a crush for Jane that is quickly growing out of control. Jane is dating Tom, but wants her best friend and her boyfriend to be civil towards each other. Jane goes on a car trip with Daria, hoping to crack the shell on what her friend is really feeling about Tom. Things spiral out of control from there.
This was written on PPMB and cross-posted on AO3.

Gay and in love with one's presumably straight best friend is never a good situation to be in, but Daria found herself in it time and time again.

Well, situations like it. Daria had at least vaguely known of her attraction to women since she was a young child, and thanks to her rejection of socialization and lack of commonality with most people she encountered, she found that any girl she wanted to become friends with, she was at least somewhat attracted to. This had never been a problem before Lawndale, however, because these girls were usually adult women, and if they happened to be around Daria's age, she had never actually befriended any of them. She could accept her attractions when they rarely appeared and weren't realistic to act out.

She couldn't now, not when she, first, had a best friend, and second, was in love with her. Of course, the one best friend Daria had was outrageously likely to be straight. Jane did not shrink from talking about boys she was interested in, and Daria, not wanting to bring her lesbianism to light, gave her own judgements, none of them positive. But Jane knew Daria's love for judging the hell out of everyone, so she didn't suspect anything when her amiga didn't approve of Bobby Bighead.

Jane didn't speak of boys too often, thankfully, and usually, the attraction dwindled within the hour or wasn't remarked upon again. Daria found this wasn't the worse situation she could be in; according to the movies, teenage girls were suppose to speak of boys like those dying of thirst speak of water. Teen cinema was never too accurate, but Daria had overheard girls at Lawndale, and they did talk about boys, far more often than Jane indulged in the habit. However, this lucky circumstance changed irreversibly one night when, at one of Mystik Spiral's gigs at the Zon, Jane hit it off with a guy named Tom.

Tom wasn't the worst. He was witty, and had some interesting things to say, and didn't look ugly, even to Daria's harsh standards of male beauty. She should have been glad that, once again, Jane's boy obsession was tasteful in comparison to their peers, and her boyfriend a tasteful choice as well. But Tom took all of Jane's time away from Daria, and for that, she could never forgive.

Before Tom, Daria could indulge herself in hopes that maybe, her best friend was bisexual, and maybe, she had a similar interest in Daria. Maybe Jane would be fine with her best friend being gay. Maybe the two would eventually work it out that they liked each other, and like magic, they'd be together, _girlfriends_. Maybe one day they'd accidentally kiss, and date, and marry, and grow old together.

Tom made Daria give up hope of any of these fantasies coming true. Jane now had a steady boyfriend, and it seemed to be proven true that because of it, Daria wasn't needed anymore. Daria felt she could hardly get a word in or have a slice of pizza without acknowledging Tom, Jane's relationship with him, or his presence itself. After a year of having her best friend's attention fully devoted to her own interest, Daria was becoming window dressings. She came home each day exhausted, and sick of the thought of Tom.

The one thing she had come to treasure most in her life was slowly chipping away, and Daria couldn't handle it.

Today wasn't the worst day of the whole ordeal. Jane had made some time for the two girls to spend together, and Daria was happy for it. They planned to visit some shops on Dega Street, and possibly pick up a slice at Pizza King. Jane, having a learner's permit and the keys to Trent's car, offered to drive, since Trent was asleep, and both weren't fond of the walk.

Daria waited outside on the edge of the curb for a few minutes, and right at 6:32, Jane arrived at the house, in Trent's blue jalopy. Daria got in shotgun, and Jane turned off the engine.

"What was that for?" Daria asked, furrowing her brow and letting some curiosity seep into her monotone delivery.

Jane sighed, and turned to look towards Daria. "Look," she began, "I know you're unhappy with the whole Tom situation-"

"Then please don't bring it up," Daria interrupted, looking irritated. "Let's just go to Dega Street."

Jane rolled her eyes and continued, "So, I figured, why don't we talk about things? I know you don't like talking about your feelings, and I don't like your opinions on my boyfriend, so this was a terrible idea, but maybe it will help us work through... stuff."

Daria scoffed and crossed her arms. "Jane, you don't want to know my opinions on this. You've made that astonishingly clear."

Jane huffed, but took a moment to maintain composure. "Consider, that maybe, I do."

Daria looked away, leaning against the window as she fixed her gaze on her house. Jane couldn't make out Daria's expression in the reflection on the window.

"How about this," Jane offered, her tone neutral, "I offer to let you talk- without interrupting- and afterwards, you'll listen to what I think. Then, maybe this won't be a colossal waste of time."

Daria turned back to her friend, like the whole thing was stupid. After a moment, with Jane giving her an eager look that screamed for her to just _go with it_ , she snapped and gave in. "Fine. You really want to know? Your boyfriend isn't the actual problem. The problem is, you meet some guy, a guy who, I will admit, is not that bad, but then you decide to spend time with him all the time, brushing off my attempts for the two of us to hang out. Every day it's, "Sorry, I'm going to the movies with Tom", or "Whoops, can't do that, I'm having dinner with the Sloanes", or "Uh-oh, rain check, we planned on breathing the same air for a while, alone. Y'know, couple's stuff." It's like you don't even care about our friendship now that Tom's in the picture. I want to hang out with my best friend, and talk to her about stuff other than boyfriend drama, and watch trash TV with her, and actually get to open up to the one person who's there for me. But you're too busy prancing off with your boyfriend to even notice that this is bothering me, besides getting pissed at me because I'm not happy for you. I'm happy for you, I'm actually fine with you having a boy you like, but I'm not happy that you're willing to cut me out of your life for some boy that's just going to break your heart. Because here I'll be, having to deal with it all when I don't like guys anyway and I just need a friend to rely on."

Daria took a breath after her monologue, and glanced at her friend. Jane seemed shocked, and a little hurt, which caused Daria to roll her eyes. "I knew it, you didn't actually want to know."

Jane looked at the steering wheel, an abnormal amount of emotion crossing her face. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you feel like that. I didn't realize-"

"Didn't realize?" Daria retorted, giving up any hope of not becoming emotionally involved. "You've completely shut me out for Tom, and you didn't think I'd be mad about that? Am I not your friend? Shouldn't friends want to spend time with each other?"

Jane swallowed, her eyes watering slightly. "Yeah," she breathed, "yeah, they should." As her sentence ended, she gripped the steering wheel even harder.

"Please don't cry," Daria whispered, her tone losing it's anger. "Jane, I'm not... I'm not bitter. I know you think I'm holding a grudge over you or something, but I'm not. I just want to have a friend I can rely on."

"And you can't rely on me right now," Jane continued, "because I'm always off with Tom."

"If I'm being honest," Daria replied, frowning, "yeah. But, I mean... fuck it. I'm probably always going to be your friend. I like you, we're interested in the same things, you're nice to me, and you're the only real friend I've had."

Jane looked up from the steering wheel, eyes widened in shock. "Are you serious, Daria?"

Daria nodded, but this time with a smile. "Yeah. And it means you've met my rigorous standards, so you're something special."

"Or something abnormal," Jane quipped. She had returned to staring at the steering wheel, but a small smile began to creep on her face. She turned back to Daria. "Look, if... if I'm you're only true friend, and you're my only true friend, I might as well be out in the open about it."

"About what?" asked Daria, turning her full attention to Jane.

Jane swallowed, and began. "I've had feelings for you since day one. First it was just attraction, which I figure was some anomaly- 'cause I like guys, right? So I get to know you, the girl I get _weird feelings_ for. And what do you know, those weird feelings become something like love. That sounds so cheesy, but we're friends here, so I'll say that. Daria?"

Daria had paled considerably, and her hands became clammy. She was staring at Jane, eyes open in shock.

"Oh, God," Jane mumbled. "Shit. You're straight, aren't you? Okay. Sorry. Forget I said anything. I've got a boyfriend, anyway, what am I doing here?" She trailed off, and touched the keys in the ignition, to start the car again and end this conversation, which, in her mind, had ended up a complete failure.

"Wait!" called out Daria, putting her hands out to touch Jane on the shoulder. "I'll talk. I'm not freaking out because of what you think I am."

Jane narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

Daria sighed. "I've just, been attracted to you for so long. I've sat there, let these feelings grow, but I decided it would be weird to just unleash my lesbianism on you at first, and when my feelings got strong, I thought you would find it creepy. Once you started dating Tom, I figured it was over, and you really were straight. That's half the reason why I've been so distraught since you started dating him."

Jane gave Daria a quizzical look and turned her head. "So, you've felt the same way I have, this entire time?"

"We must have the worst luck," Daria said with a smirk, and before she could say anything else, she was being kissed.

It lasted a few seconds, and was nothing spectacular, but when both girls stopped and looked each other in the eye, you could tell it was a big deal.

"Dammit," Jane cursed after a moment. "Dammit, dammit, dammit."

"What?" Daria asked, scared something was wrong. "What is it?"

"I've got a boyfriend to dump," Jane replied, smirking, and went in for a kiss again. This was longer, and both girls were more prepared.

"Seriously?" Daria questioned, exiting the kiss with a sudden state of shock. "You're going to dump Tom?"

"Tom's a nice guy and all," Jane shrugged, "but if it's him or you, it'll be you in a heartbeat."

Daria blushed, quite noticeably, and picked up Jane's right hand in her own. Jane looked down at the development and smiled.

"Why don't we go to Dega Street?" Jane inquired. "God, never in a million years did I think this would actually happen!"

Daria nodded, and let go of Jane's hand. Jane turned on the car's engine, and after their discussion, the two were happy to continue on with their plans, and gleeful after the new development between the two, it was a night neither would forget.


End file.
